Fond
by Rangerskirt
Summary: If Izaya had known the one thing his new client hated most was verbal rejection he would never have made the mistake of declining the job. He would have given many things to go back in time and not have to see so much blood, so many tears, to feel more grief than he knew he was capable of feeling. And to be left being emotionally supported by the least likely person, Shizuo.


_fond  
_ _/fänd/_

 _To be keen on, or partial to.  
i.e: Izaya Orihara was fond of his sisters._

In movies, writers and directors like to depict sad and broken emotions with symbolic rain and gloomy weather, especially during death and funeral scenes. If that case were true in real life then it would never stop raining on the planet Earth. That day in particular had been bright, sunny and purely gorgeous outside like any other probable day in Ikebukuro.

~.~.~.~.~

The well-known information broker, Izaya Orihara, thought nothing of the lovely weather and still sported his usual fuzz-lined coat and left it hanging open in front despite the weather being a tad warm for it. Nice weather did mean one good thing in his eyes, everyone was out and about and that meant so many interesting human habits and routines were going on right under his nose.

Getting away with odd habits or illegal activities were easier to get away with on rainy days when no one wanted to look around or go outside. No, it took real skill and interest to get away with it on a beautiful day, and even more skill to spot it. Not that he was trying to brag but it was simply a fact that he had keen enough senses to notice such things despite distractions like the beautiful weather outside or crowds.

As the day grew closer to lunchtime Izaya had started to head off towards Russia Sushi with a grumbling stomach. On his little stroll to his destination, he'd noticed three shady conversations, a woman pilfering a candy bar from a shop stand, and a man in an alleyway that he could only assume was nervous because it was his first time propositioning a prostitute for later that evening.

The Russian restaurant was bustling as normal so it took Izaya a little longer to get in and eat his fill than on his usual late night escapades. Almost as soon as the information broker stepped foot outside of the restaurant, stomach full of fatty tuna and other sushi, his red eyes caught the top of two very familiar heads moving in the nearby crowd.

Letting out a sigh the young man turned on his heels and walked in the opposite direction of the familiar figures. Not making much effort it wasn't more than a minute or two before each of his arms were grabbed onto with excitement and he let out a second sigh. "Mairu, Kururi, what are you two doing over here today?"

One bright smile later from Mairu, she beamed, "We wanted to see you! Right Kururi?" The older twin was more gently holding onto his left arm and nodded slightly. "Yes, we wanted to see you."

"That's great and all but _I_ have no desire to see _you two._ " his voice was smooth yet cold and harsh as always towards the girls. "I'm extremely busy today, I'll probably be working through the night. In fact, I have a very important new client I'm doing a job for tonight so you two should buzz off and get into your own trouble~"

Mairu's eyes only sparkled more, "Ooh important new client, sounds like an even shadier business deal than you usually do!" The excitement in Mairu's voice was obvious and to an untrained eye Kururi seemed uncaring as usual, but Izaya noticed the twitch in her eyes at the mention of shady business that showed she was just as exhilarated hearing this as her sister.

Sporting his own all-knowing smile, Izaya laughed in a low and devious chuckle. "It is quite thrilling to think about isn't it?" It was a rare time and feeling when Izaya could connect with anyone on any sort of level and this was one of those very brief moments in time. The girls and he alike both got off on excitement, albeit on different levels and in different ways. As soon as the moment had clicked and they were all smiling together at the thought of underground organizations and fights with manipulation, it was over and a frown tugged at Izaya's lips.

"I'm serious now, leave." Tugging his arms from the girls' hold Izaya lifted them up and crossed them behind his head as their footsteps stayed in stride. Mairu skipped being walking backward in front of Izaya and gave a pleading yet demanding expression, "No way, this city is so boring today that's why we decided we wanted to see you Izaya! You always have interesting things going on."

So they wanted a tip on some interesting information in exchange for leaving him the hell alone, it wasn't the first time the twins had pulled such a deal on Izaya. Last time it had been some information on the Headless Rider and where the best place to possibly catch a glimpse of it might be. Stopping in his tracks the frown on his face grew deeper and finally, he lowered his arms back down to his sides. "Then maybe you two should go bug some serial killer, that would put some excitement in your life and rid me of your pest'ing ways at the same time."

"Eh!?" Mairu exclaimed followed by a short monotone of, "Cruel." from Kururi. "Fine, maybe we will then! Come on Kururi, looks like we'll just have to find our own entertainment after all. We should have known better that we couldn't count on Izaya for anything! Bleh!" the younger twin stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry in her brother's direction.

As the girls sauntered off their brother stayed still but shoved his hands into his hoodie's pockets. One hand secretly held onto his switch knife, ready to draw and use it at any instant. "I'm used to new clients keeping a closer eye on me than usual, but stalking me for the last hour in person is...a bit odd but possibly flattering. Can I help you, Mr. Itsuki Ono?"

Said man stepped out from the shadows of a nearby alley, the other passerby's on the sidewalk didn't seem to notice the dangerous air around him as Izaya did. Itsuki stood around half a foot taller than Izaya at 6'5 and was quite slim himself, lacking much muscle that he made up for with intimidating eyes and aura. "I take my business very seriously, especially when I move to a new territory and have to conduct business with...untrustworthy strangers." his voice was deep and rumbling.

With his hand that wasn't ready to draw his knife, Izaya touched his chest and feigned hurt. "Sir, you wound me with such words of disloyalty! Perhaps I get carried away sometimes but I am always _dead_ serious when it comes to my work as an information broker. I assure you. If you couldn't trust me even this much I'm curious as to why you hired me in the first place."

"Testing the waters of this city. When I first arrived here and started making connections I heard your name over and over. Seems you have your fingers dipped into every upper and underground business around, but you don't stop there, you seem to know everyone and I know how dangerous someone like that can be." the man was being honest, Izaya could respect that, but it made him dangerous right back to the info broker.

"Someone like that, you mean someone smarter than you?" a smirk graced the young man's lips as his shoulders started to relax from the situation. If Itsuki had been here for ill intentions and been crazy enough to attack him in broad daylight, then he would have already. Still, Izaya didn't let go of his knife quite yet.

Shaking his head the taller man ran a smooth hand through his shaggy, dirt-brown hair. "Not smarter, just someone with less to lose. Again that makes you dangerous." There was a long quiet air between the two men before Itsuki started again, "When I look at you I see all of you. A fucked up human being who can't connect with others so he results to observing and keeping everything at a distance. You have a little power in just about every person and place inside of Ikebukuro and normally someone like you would have been killed by someone else afraid of you by now...except anyone has yet to find a weakness to exploit in order to catch you."

Scoffing Izaya shifted his stance to lean heavier on one foot to give the allusion that he was bored, relaxed and genuinely unafraid. "So you're trying to find a way to control me, find that one sparkling weakness. That one person I care _so much_ about that I'd come crawling to aid them with my own life? Pathetic, Mr. Ono I'm afraid after tonight when your job is finished I won't be taking any more jobs from you. That's your loss, not mine."

"I'm no fool, there's no way you have someone you care about like that." the taller man exuded confidence nonetheless and took half a step closer towards Izaya to speak in a slightly quieter tone. "But you do have someone, or should I say _two_ someone's, who you are a bit fond of."

A laugh broke from Izaya's lips, bubbling up with urgency and force as the younger man tried to take back control of the situation. "You're threatening my sisters? I care about them less than almost anyone else in this city, so go ahead and kidnap them if that's what you like." He felt as if he'd pulled off his usual attitude properly so he should have been in the clear along with anyone going after Kururi and Mairu.

"Kidnap, that's funny. Get the job done." Itsuki brushed past Izaya and touched his shoulder with a strong squeeze before his presence disappeared up the street. A slightly shaken feeling ran through Izaya's body and he had to swallow several times to fully bring himself back from processing the conversation. So Mr. Ono was a tougher nut to crack than his usual deals in Ikebukuro, that was fine, he was sure soon enough even Mr. Ono would be under his foot and relying on Izaya for information like everyone else in the city.

In the meantime it wouldn't hurt for him to look up some more information on his new client, just to see what kind of trouble that man could really stir up.

~.~.~.~.~

The job had gone even smoother than Izaya had expected, digging up information on a few well-hidden individuals for Mr. Ono and sent off the information papers with the mobster's designated pick-up lackey. The hour was getting close to 6pm and to be honest with himself after that small tug-a-war conversation with Mr. Ono he was not feeling like he wanted to stick around and run into Shizuo longer than he had to today.

He'd learned some pretty disgusting things about his newest employer, and unless the man was willing to pay up more next time and ask kindly Izaya wasn't sure he wanted to take jobs from him again.

Shrugging to himself Izaya had started to head off towards home when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Answering with leisure he said, "Mr. Ono, lovely to hear from you again so soon! Pleased with the work I assume?"

The voice on the other side was familiar and deep with a crisp clarity, "Better than I expected actually, color me slightly impressed. Because you did so well I want to entrust you with one more person I need to locate and this one is very important-" Izaya cut off the conversation, "Ah ah, I already told you that after your little threats today I wouldn't be doing more business with you. If you really want my help you'll have to learn to get on my good side. Maybe start with begging, that's always a good start!~"

He had only said it as a bit of fun, Izaya had expected some type of grumpy response and then an offer of more money begrudgingly. If it had been someone he dealt with regularly like Mr. Shiki then Izaya could have gotten away with maybe a bit more teasing, but again after that conversation laced with poisonous threats earlier, he wasn't feeling much into a few quips.

With an unamused pause, Itsuki said, "You either don't realize who you're dealing with or you're even more full of yourself than I anticipated Orihara. I'm telling you now as your only warning, you don't want to refuse my request. Now I'm going to tell you the name of who I need to find and you are going to-" _Beep._ Izaya hung up with a bored sigh and stuffed the phone back into his pocket. "Do your worst."

A grin overcame Izaya's expression as he walked and started to fantasize. Perhaps Mr. Ono would kidnap his sisters or someone he knew and then Izaya could show him just how smart and cunning he really was by infiltrating and turning the situation in his favor. That would surely have the man under his thumb for the future, or perhaps- his mind starting wandering down different pathways and situations. Even just the thought of it was enough to rile fervor through his veins like adrenaline.

It was only five minutes from the end of the call when Izaya's phone buzzed again, this time from an email.

 _From: Itsuki Ono  
_ _Message: I gave you a warning, now deal with the consequences. I'm a very serious man and I don't take any backlash whatsoever. I wonder which of your sisters means more to you?_

"What the hell..." he muttered as his red-brown eyes stared at the phone screen. No secondary warning, no threat or demands, the email was simply an acknowledgment and statement that something was about to happen. Against his usual judgment of leaving it alone for someone else to suffer, there was something about that man that left Izaya feeling a bit hollow and dare he say it, worried.

The info broker had heard and learned much information about Itsuki Ono before dealing with him, all cruel and awful things beyond what most mobsters in Ikebukuro resorted to. Izaya had never thought that those things meant the man couldn't be manipulated by his usual standards or that a simple brush off would cause such an ordeal.

Going through his contacts Izaya dialed _Kururi_ first. For probably the first time since he was in high school Izaya was dialing one of his sister's phones instead of the other way around, and yet it kept ringing and ringing without an answer. "Tch you brat!" he hissed and moved to lean his back against a street lamp and quickly hit to dial _Mairu._ Again it rang until he got a voicemail and hit the red button, "Brats!" Izaya couldn't help but to gruffly say out loud. _I am your brother, you should know if I'm calling you that it's important!_

Surely they were just salty at him for brushing them off earlier that day, he was sure of it. So again he dialed _Kururi_ and started to tap his foot impatiently against the pavement. Finally, in the middle of the third ring, there was a familiar noise of being answered, "Kururi! Where are you and Mairu right now?"

A slight part of the young man's mind thought that it would be extremely cliche if Mr. Ono's voice came over the phone instead and start talking about how Izaya had fucked up by hanging up on him. That part of him was quelled when the well-known monotone voice sounded out instead, "Brother?" He could practically see her blink during her pause, "I'm waiting in the park, Mairu ran into the shop to get us candy. Why do you care?"

Hearing the answer didn't soothe the squeezing feeling that was getting tighter inside of Izaya's chest. "Hah of course, I should have known." _Mr. Ono was surely just trying to get a reaction out of me. Fine, I'll let him have this one._ "The two of you really are a pain in my side. If only I'd been an only child." There was a brief, "Hmph." before Kururi hung up on him.

Since he had already been caught as a fool seeming to care, only by his sister and possibly Mr. Ono, it wasn't as if anyone would believe the newcomer in town about such things. So he dialed up Mairu one more time and smirked to himself when she answered, "You know, you should really answer when your brother is calling Mairu. What if something _awful_ was going on and I needed to speak with you?" a small artificial laugh bubbled in the back of Izaya's throat. "Ridiculous, you wouldn't call to warn me of shi-" there was a loud sound of something heavy hitting flesh, Izaya could swear he heard several loud cracks before the phone seemed to have gone flying and landed on the pavement with a slide.

"...Mairu?...Mairu!" The man's composure slipped completely as he yelled his sister's name into his phone. Frozen to his spot for the moment Izaya waited for a response, hearing someone pick up the phone and breath into the other side he let out a shaky breath. "Fuck Mairu that wasn't funny you little-"

"Hello, Orihara." Itsuki's deep and husky tone resonated, "I'm top dog in my home city and I'm sure this shows you why. I'll be in contact soon." The call ended and was the only thing to shake Izaya's mind back to any sort of reality and catch his own smartphone before it slipped from his fingers that were feeling numb and cold despite the warm evening.

Lifting the back of his free hand to his lips Izaya let out a small choked noise with wide and shaky eyes. "Sh-Shit...where are they?" he muttered and put his brain to the task of working out what park Kururi was in right at the moment. He knew of two that they frequented so he took a chance, turning on a heel and sprinting off towards the one closest to where he was.

There had never been a time when Izaya had put so much effort into running, not even times when he had been running from Shizu-chan, those always felt like strolls in the park compared to this type of sprinting. Speaking of the beast, as red eyes scanned his way through Ikebukuro towards a destination, they spotted that bleach blond mop and for once instinctively ignored it.

Even as Shizuo turned, having spotted him just as quickly and snarled out his usual, "Izaya, thought I smelled your rotten-wah hey!?" Izaya had run straight passed Ikebukuro's strongest man, their shoulders just barely colliding before Izaya had corrected his footing and stepped out and away from the man to keep his pacing. "I don't have time for you." he muttered, voice strict and focused on what was ahead of him rather than who he had left behind on the street just now.

"The fuck is that supposed to mean!?" Shizuo's raucous voice called after him, Izaya didn't bother to check if he was being followed, he would deal with that baggage later if need be.

 _Two more blocks, just two more blocks!_ his mind chanted several times over. The closer his feet took him the tighter that dreading feeling inside of his chest grew and Izaya could swear he heard sirens on the horizon.

Just short of slipping on some loose gravel when he turned the corner too fast only to mistakenly slam his shoulder into someone else's, who promptly scowled at Izaya, "Watch where you're going asshole." Barely sparing the hefty man a glance the info broker looked around, finding himself in a small crowd and started pushing his way through without grace or tact.

Breaking through the end of the crowd Izaya felt like all of the breath had left his lungs, clenching both of his hands at his side. Red eyes scanned the pavement, liquid as crimson as his eye color was all over the sidewalk and street where the body of a young girl laid. Her eyes were open, dead and lifeless as was her body that was spread out in unnatural angles.

Whispers were all around him in the crowd, he only caught pieces here and there of _'Oh dear what a shame' 'Poor girls she's so young' 'Who could do such a thing'_ None of these people understood what had really happened here today, none of them deserved to be looking at the body of his sister. Turning around the crowd all seemed to notice him and focus on Izaya's red eyes that were full of disgust and hate. "Leave, all of you, get the fuck out of here, you have no business staring at her!" The shutter of a camera went off then and Izaya felt himself snap, pinpointing the girl to his right that had her camera phone out and had snapped a picture of the sick scene before the crowd.

Grabbing the front of her blouse with one hand and flicking out his switchblade with his other the young man smiled and spoke with a silvery edge, "You'd better delete that picture before I put this knife in your eye sweetheart." Izaya watched her delete the picture without blinking once until he heard the familiar and ever annoying voice call his name. "Izaya what the hell is your problem today!? You damn fleabag-shit now you've degraded to threatening girls?! Let her go."

Izaya's eyes fluttered and rolled as he shoved the girl away from himself a bit roughly. "I don't have time for you today Shizuo..." The crowd had started dispensing quickly as Shizuo showed up combined with the ever louder growing sirens that were approaching.

Shrugging off his dark jacket the info broker stepped back over the red pavement and knelt down in the thick liquid, then slowly draped his jacket over his sister's lifeless face. A shudder made its way through his shoulders and tremored down the rest of his body forcefully. "No way...that's...one of your sisters..." Shizuo sounded shocked and guttural like he was nauseous.

Without thinking, Izaya put his hand over one of Mairu's cold hands, a sweet gesture the man would have never taken in any other circumstance. Squeezing her hand in his for a brief moment Izaya stood again, leaving the body covered mostly now from onlooker's eyes. "As you can see I'm not up to any no-good-deeds right now _Shizu-chan_ so kindly fuck off!" to emphasize his words Izaya made a quick movement with his hand cutting through the air.

The blond man didn't make any moves to leave, he wasn't making any movements to start a fight but seemed genuinely unsure of what to do. It wasn't his problem what happened to Izaya or his sisters, but seeing the info broker so out of his element and unwound was unnerving and worrisome. Taking a few steps back he simply put a hand up, meaning he meant no harm and wouldn't get in the way of anything.

After taking what felt like an eternity the ambulance pulled up and a few men rushed out to where the blood and body were, quickly doing their normal procedure to check vitals even though it was painfully obvious what the result would be. Putting a hand on his forehead Izaya's eyes grew half-lidded, "This is all my fault..." Shizuo just barely caught the soft and rigid words, but before he could ask what that even meant, Kururi came running over.

Izaya had quickly put his hands out and caught her shoulders, pulling her in front of him before saying, "Don't look! Kururi stop, stand right there!" he practically yelled in hopes she would be obedient, it seemed harsh but for once her brother only had good intentions. She didn't need to see her sisters body in such a state he had just witnessed, they were so close it would surely scar her, well scar her worse than she already would be.

"Mairu got hit by a car...she's dead. Don't look, trust me you don't want to see her like this." Izaya didn't feel the urge to lie often, one semi-decent quality about him was that he really didn't lie. Sure he used his truths to manipulate and twist into situations he preferred but Izaya Orihara didn't lie lightly. For the first time in a long while he felt the urge to lie his ass off but decided against it, Kururi would find out soon enough and lighten the situation would only make it worse later.

With a pull that was too quick to be gentle Izaya hugged his little sister tightly to his chest, only to be shoved away. Being pushed almost immediately hurt a little but he brushed it off and instead watched Kururi's eyes look him up and down, his missing coat and the blood that was drying on the knees and ends of his pants from kneeling down next to his sister's body before.

"No...no no, that...this is just some sick joke right Izaya?" Her reddish eyes were hopeful that for once her big brother was just being his cruel self and tricking her. She turned to look at the only other individual that was standing around, Shizuo, for confirmation. Seeing the dreaded look on his face was enough to tell her that wasn't the case though. "You bastard, I don't know what you did but somehow this is your fault!" Pulling her fist back, the usually quiet and stoic Kururi let it fly and punch her brother several times in the chest.

He didn't flinch or move and just let the younger sibling pound on his chest a few times before she ran out of steam. "It is my fault." His tone was devoid of its usual snark or flare, "Hate me all you like for it." He sure would never forgive himself for this either so why should Kururi? Touching his hands back to her shoulders again Izaya took in a small but steady breath, "Try to calm down, not for me but they won't let you ride with her in the ambulance if you're screaming and punching me."

Glancing back the men had tossed his jacket aside and were now starting to move the body onto a stretcher for easier moving, one man slipped and they ended up dropping the small clump of limbs back onto the dirtied pavement. Doing his best to still stay in front of Kururi to block her few he snarled out, "Hey be more gentle, she's not a rag doll!"

It was only one of the men that had an attitude, he frowned and glared at Izaya and seemed to recognize the famous info broker that caused problems around Ikebukuro. "If she was with you then she probably deserved what was coming to her." The other two paramedics looked shocked at what their coworker was saying and waved their hands, trying to quiet him, "Man that is _not_ cool to say, _ever_!"

It was too late though, Izaya had flicked his switchblade out and stepped right over to the crude male, "Say that again, I dare you. If you want to say that shit to me it's fine, but my little sister can hear you and if you make this day any harder on her than it already is, this knife is going to find its way into your gut." Easy to say that Izaya didn't handle situations like this well, the combination of stress, building grief and guilt were weighing his body down to the maximum.

A hint of being intimidated flickered in the man's eye but he puffed out his chest ready to ignore his job and verbally fight with Izaya instead. Luckily a deep voice came from behind the info broker, it was the first time Izaya had ever heard or scene Shizuo defusing a fight instead of instigating one further. "I've got her." Turning on his heel, red eyes wide and watched Shizuo ever so gently pick up the stretcher and move it with ease into the ambulance.

Opening his mouth the words died just as quickly inside of Izaya's mind and he closed it again, "..." One of the calm paramedics frowned and shoved the irritable one in the shoulder, "Get in, you've caused enough problems for these people today. I can't fucking believe you..." The two of them disappeared up front and the third worker lightly bowed his head to the other men, "I'm so sorry about him, there's room in the back if someone wants to ride with us to the hospital."

Kururi pushed passed them, tears prevalent in her eyes, "I'm riding with her." It was a command if anything else and neither Shizuo or Izaya would take that privilege from her. The ambulance pulled away with sirens blazing, leaving two enemies standing on the curb in awkward silence. Glancing over at the taller man the info broker managed a small, "...Thank you." before running both of his hands through his short dark hair at the same time. "I have to get to the hospital." he then muttered more to himself than to Shizuo.

All of the usual tension between the men seemed to have vanished, Shizuo reached and took the others hand to start pulling him down the street. "Well? Come on then." Scoffing Izaya tried to pull his hand from the warm grip but was unsuccessful, Shizuo seemed adamant to hold on and keep pulling the shorter man forward. "Um, what? Why are you coming along? And why are you holding my hand and pulling me!?" he practically screeched and gave his hand another fumbled pull.

"Look I know you and I aren't friends, we hate each other. It's just...you just saw your little sister _dead,_ and I know you don't have anyone else to depend on right now. I'm going to stick around until you give in and call Shinra to come see you." Being talked to, in his mind, like he was a child was something the young man hated more than most things. Not only had he had to grow up at an early age to take care of both his siblings and himself, but he worked with the Yakuza, not something a mere child could pull off and make a living out of. Izaya started to pull harder on his hand only to feel like a Chinese finger trap, the more he pulled the tighter the beasts' grip became. To the point where it was getting painful.

Pain signaled through his wrist and arm when Shizuo gave a single tighter and stern squeeze to his wrist. "A-Ah, ow you fucking brutish monster let _go_!" This was met only with silence, Shizuo had figured if he could just keep himself silent and calm for now then he would be able to get Izaya to the hospital without killing him first.

Not until halfway to the hospital did Izaya give in and calm down enough that Shizuo could swear that as his own grip softened, the small hand in his was slowly curled in to meet his half way. The taller of the two let out a sigh as their walk became easier and less of a fight, the whole time the only thing going through his mind to keep himself calm was what if he had been in that sort of situation.

If he had lost Kasuka, seen his little brother on the pavement like a dead pile and surrounded by blood...Surely the rage monster living deep inside of him would never be quelled again. Shizuo was almost certain he would go on a rampage, kill people and destroy buildings, anything in his path until law enforcement was forced to put a bullet through his brain. If that could even kill him, nothing else had been able to so far.

Those thoughts, as dark and subdued as they were, had helped him on the trip following the wailing sirens towards a hospital. Surely no one would intervene if it had been him to freak out at his loved one's death, Izaya might have ended up in a similar situation of self-depreciating spite, the raven-haired man could twist Ikebukuro into World War III if he really wanted to.

Besides, just the fact that Izaya was freaking out, as much as he tried to hold it in and hide it, was proof to Shizuo that he was human and could learn to care for someone other than humanity as a whole being. As much as the blond hated to admit it, he and Izaya were two sides of the same coin. Both monsters but in their own way, his in his brutish strength and Izaya's in his manipulation and inability to connect with people.

It had long since occurred to Shizuo that if he hadn't been so pissed off the first day Shinra had introduced them, they might have ended up being semi-decent friends...or at least not mortal enemies.

Still, there was silence between them, seemingly there was a quiet understanding as they held hands and picked up their walking speed towards their destination.

~.~.~.~.~

Arriving quite a time after the ambulance the two men were still instructed to have a seat inside the waiting room, where they took seats next to each other on a bench in the far corner of the room away from the very few others who were also waiting for news there.

Shizuo watched every movement the other man made, he was seated to Shizuo's right and had his hands clenched together and drooped between his legs, head hung down to stare at the floor. Periodically the raven would glance up either at the counter, the rooms connecting doors or even to the blond next to him if enough time had passed or there was a sound in the otherwise dead silent room.

They had been told that Mairu's body had been taken downstairs to be checked over by the doctors and properly documented before she would be released for whatever funeral her family decided for her. It sounded like Kururi had been given her chance to check her sister over and say goodbye to the body before police had whisked her away to a separate room to question her about her sister's death, supposed murder in their eyes since they weren't sure of it.

After more than an hour of waiting since they had arrived, Izaya looked up once again and this time directly at Shizuo. His crimson eyes held no hatred at the time, just questioning sadness. "Shizuo..." his voice was soft and it caught the blond's attention to meet the other's eyes. "Um, yeah?"

"This is all my fault." he admitted, which was something Shizuo had thought about. Maybe Izaya had been trying to pull a prank or manipulate someone and it had all gone wrong, resulting in Mairu being the target of some unwanted attention, though he had tried not to think of that possibility until just that moment. "Some guy I was doing a job for, I refused a second job from him because I'd checked up some more information on him...and I didn't like what sort of things he condoned. Maybe I got too snarky, I did play with him too much but I never thought he was going to...going to do _this."_

Shizuo opened his mouth to give his opinion but was cut off when Izaya decided he wasn't finished, "In the city he's originally from he makes a big living off of kidnapping young teenage girls into the slave trade. Which you know, normally that's fascinating to me, humans are fascinating but when it's around here I-" he spoke quicker then as if trying to explain something to the blond but not being able to put it bluntly.

It took a moment of the rambling for Shizuo to catch on, he nodded and sighed before taking off his sunglasses finally. "I get it, normally you wouldn't care. But if he did that around here, your sisters are prime for what he does and you won't stand for that. Even if you won't admit it, I know that's what you mean. I also know that even if you don't love them, you would never let them get dragged into something like that."

Izaya looked shocked, for once the two men were on the same page in a good way and he was thankful beyond his years. "Yes." his dry throat croaked out. A familiar feeling spread through the raven's chest, it was similar to the tightness and warmth that grew when he and his sisters had a moment of bonding together. A feeling that Izaya had never felt with another person, or monster, besides them until right in that moment.

Watching the blond clench his fists in anger suddenly Izaya stiffened and was ready to stand up and run out of pure instinct. Though Shizuo didn't direct the anger towards him, "This doesn't make us friends but that guy you're talking about, he's a disgusting lunatic for doing something like this! Dammit, I"m so pissed off just trying to picture his face!" Then he reached and grabbed Izaya's upper arm that was closest to him, "I'll kill him, just tell me where he is and I'll kill him!"

"I'll think about it...I'm not sure how I want him to die yet." that familiar smirk started to twitch at Izaya's lips in a cold manner and the grip left his arm, leaving Shizuo to practically pout and cross his arms. "Whatever as long as he dies in the end!" The mask-like smile covered Izaya's face finally as he heard that, Shizuo's anger was like music to his ears.

"Who would have thought that Shizu-chan would be my savior today?" Before said blond could ask what that even meant Kururi came up the stairs from the morgue, followed by two officers. Izaya stood up as quickly as he could and faced his sister's direction, unsure if he should be expecting tears from her or more karate attacks in his direction.

Tears were what he noticed first, and then that she had taken initiative and come straight over to her brother and hugged him tightly. Wrapping his arms warmly around her frame he glanced at the officers who both had regretful looks on their faces. One was quite tall, with crows feet lining the sides of his face while the other was short and had very obvious armpit sweat marks on his uniform. The tall one spoke first, "We're sorry for your loss, we'd like to ask you some questions about everything as soon as possible." his voice sounded cold, it was obvious he wanted to talk to Izaya now.

The other cop had a more kindly expression and smiled to the best of his ability, "But we've talked and um...well Miss Kururi is quite upset-" anyone could have noticed since she had been crying her eyes out into her brothers dark shirt, "-and your parents aren't in town. So please take some time this evening to get settled, take care of things at the hospital and come by the police station first thing in the morning for us?" he requested. Giving a sturdy nod Izaya simply said, "I will, bright and early." Quickly dismissing the two men, who shared a single glance before retreating.

~.~.~.~.~

He had been expecting it but Kururi had sobbed and been hysterical, it hadn't helped when one of the nurses had requested Izaya's attention for paperwork on releasing the body. The poor woman had not been spared the young girls wrathful glare and quite a few nasty cusswords before they were left and the tears continued. For the time, Izaya had decided to focus on his living sister and quelling some of her pain by holding her and riding out some of her initial grief.

An hour and a half passed of hysterics but finally, Kururi had fallen asleep, tear marks streaked along her young face. Izaya had taken a seat on the bench again next to Shizuo, his sister lying next to him with her head in his lap as he ran fingers through the short and dark hair even as she slept. All that time Shizuo had been patient and quiet, doing nothing but sitting as support if he would have needed to jump in to something. A small gesture but something that Izaya appreciated immensely.

"It's going to be hard for her...but she's strong, I know she will be ok." the taller man broke the long-standing silence. Her brother was sure hoping so, he would prefer the annoying young sibling any day to the grief-stricken crying one in his lap. Stopping his hand and just resting it on her brunette head, he rested his opposite hand next to him on the bench. "I think so too, but they were so close I'm just...worried I guess. My parents will probably stick around Ikebukuro for awhile after this at least, so she'll have them to help her, that's better than if I try to help. I don't process things the same way most people do."

It had been awhile since his red gaze had strayed from the sleeping Kururi, but both his gaze and entire body jumped when he felt a hand touch over his own. A small gasp had escaped his lips, "Shizuo?" There was no response, in fact, the blond man wasn't even looking at either of the Orihara's. His stare was being forced at the other end of the disgustingly white waiting room.

Letting silence settle in again Izaya shifted lightly, leaning his arm closer to brush Shizuo's in acceptance of the touch.

That tight feeling inside of his chest had returned.

* * *

-Not beta'd, if you notice any grammar mistakes please let me know I'd be happy to fix them.

-Sorry if Izaya comes off sort of cold, the whole point of this story really is that even though Izaya doesn't love individuals he is capable of becoming...fond, of them. Like his sisters, he very obviously had some fondness/affection for them and thus is upset over Mairu's death. But he's still disconnected and screwed up to the point where he doesn't quite know how to handle it, he's unsure if he should be angry, sad, cold or etc towards the whole situation so he kind of goes all over the place.


End file.
